Pennsylvania
Special Education Hearing Officer
DECISION
Child’s Name: A Student in the Freeport Area School District
Date of Birth: 00/00/0000
Dates of Hearing: 07/21/08
CLOSED HEARING
ODR No. 9015/07-08 AS
Parties to the Hearing:
Parents
Freeport Area School District
Representative:
Dr. Stan Chapp, Superintendent Parent Attorney: None
John Vogel, Esq. School District Attorney
Date Record Closed: July 25, 2008
Date of Decision: August 7, 2008
Hearing Officer: Anne L. Carroll, Esq.
INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Student is an eligible student with an identified disability, who is about to enter _ grade at __ School. At the end of the 2007/2008 school year, the District conducted a reevaluation of Student at the Parents’ request. On May 8 and May 16, 2008, Student’s IEP team convened to review the results of the reevaluation and develop a new IEP to cover the remaining few weeks of the 2007/2008 school year and most of the upcoming year. Based upon the reevaluation results and Student’s grades during __ grade, the IEP team determined that Student was eligible for extended school year (ESY) services for math only. The District proposed its standard ESY program, an hour of one to one tutoring weekly for five weeks provided by a special education teacher obtained through the Armstrong Indiana Intermediate Unit (ARIN).
Parents requested that the District pay for Student to attend a summer day camp program that includes academic, social and career exploration components. Student attended that program during the summers of 2006 and 2007, entirely at Parents’ expense, and found it very enjoyable. To address Student’s ESY need as identified by the District, the requested summer day camp program offered one to one math instruction by peer tutoring, and also provides social skills development/practice opportunities and work with computers/video production.
After the May 16 IEP meeting, the District and Parents had no further discussions concerning an ESY program for Student, and the District did not issue a NOREP for ESY. When Student began attending the requested summer program, the Parents submitted a due process complaint seeking reimbursement of their out of pocket costs for the program and the transportation they provided, contending that the summer day camp is an appropriate ESY program for Student, while the ARIN program proposed by the District did not address all of the IEP goals. A due process hearing on Parents’ complaint was completed in a half-day session on July 21, 2008.
ISSUE
Should the Freeport Area School District be required to pay the costs associated with Student’s attendance at the [ ] summer day camp as an ESY program for 2008, including the costs of Parent-provided transportation?
Student-Freeport-Area-ODRNo-9015-07-08-AS